                                 CODE OF VIRGINIA

APPLICATIONS AND BALLOTS FOR PERSONS REQUIRING ASSISTANCE IN VOTING; PENALTY (§
24.2-704)

A. The application for an absentee ballot shall provide space for the applicant
to indicate that he will require assistance to vote his absentee ballot by
reason of blindness, disability, or inability to read or write.

B. On receipt of an application from an applicant who indicated that he will
require assistance due to a visual impairment or print disability, the general
registrar shall offer to provide to the applicant a ballot marking tool with
screen reader assistive technology made available pursuant to &#xA7; 24.2-103.2.
If the applicant opts to use such tool, the general registrar shall send by mail
to him a ballot return envelope and accessible instructions provided by the
Department for using such tool and returning the marked ballot. The general
registrar shall cause the outer envelope containing the ballot return envelope
and accessible instructions to have a tactile marking that identifies the outer
envelope as the outer envelope to the voter. For purposes of this section,
&#8220;tactile marking&#8221; includes a hole punch, a cut corner, or a tactile
sticker.
			An absentee voter using such tool shall return the marked absentee ballot in
accordance with the instructions provided by the Department.
			No ballot marked with the electronic ballot marking tool shall be rejected
because the ballot was printed on regular paper. No ballot marked with the
electronic ballot marking tool shall be rejected on the basis of the position of
the voter&#8217;s signature or address on the ballot return envelope as long as
the voter&#8217;s signature or address is anywhere on the ballot return
envelope.

C. On receipt of an application from an applicant marked to indicate that he
will require assistance due to any other disability or if an applicant offered
the ballot marking tool pursuant to subsection B declines to use such tool, the
general registrar shall deliver, with the items required by &#xA7; 24.2-706, the
voter assistance form furnished by the State Board pursuant to &#xA7; 24.2-649.
The voter and any person assisting him shall complete the form by signing the
request for assistance and statement required of the assistant. If the voter is
unable to sign the request, the person assisting him will note this fact on the
line for signature of voter. The provisions of &#xA7; 24.2-649 shall apply to
absentee voting and assistance for absentee voters. Any person who willfully
violates the provisions of this section or &#xA7; 24.2-649 in providing
assistance to a person who is voting absentee shall be guilty of a Class 5
felony.

HISTORY: 1984, c. 775, § 24.1-228.2; 1993, c. 641; 1996, c. 295; 2006, c. 242;
2008, c. 880; 2015, cc. 644, 645; 2021, Sp. Sess. I, cc. 255, 471, 522; 2023, c.
785.